Renting a Place to Live/Tenants/Types of Tenancies

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Types of Tenancies

I am going to rent a house that is owned by the university. Will the Residential Tenancies Act cover this tenancy?

If you have exclusive possession of the house, and it is self-contained, then the Act will apply. The Act would not apply to student residences owned by the college, school, or university where a student has a room in a larger building.

I’ve recently decided to move out of my parents’ home and rent a place for myself. Some properties are being advertised as a periodic tenancy and others as a fixed term tenancy – what’s the difference?

With a periodic tenancy you can terminate the tenancy at any time and move out and you can only be evicted with proper notice and/or for specific reasons as set out in the tenancy agreement.

On the other hand, a fixed term tenancy has a definite length of commitment. For example, your tenancy may begin on December 31st 2010 and end on December 31st 2011. When the fixed term ends, you are assumed to have left the property without any further notice from your landlord (unless your tenancy agreement states that it becomes a periodic tenancy at the end of the fixed term). Furthermore, if either you or your landlord break the tenancy before the end of the fixed term, the person who breaks the agreement may be liable for damages due to the loss of tenancy. This means that if you end the tenancy before the end of the fixed term, you may be required to pay the remainder of the rent for as many months as were left in the agreement.

In either case your landlord can raise your rent once a year by however much he or she chooses. There is no legislation in Alberta stating a minimum or maximum amount that rent can be raised.

See Also

Other FAQs in Renting a Place to Live
General	Laws	Offences	Privacy	Security (Damage) Deposits
Tenants	Abandonment	Before the Tenancy	Damage Deposits	Enforcing Court Orders	Eviction	Inspections	Landlord Obligations
	Lease & Residential Tenancy Agreement	Moving to Alberta from Another Province	Non-Refundable Fees	Notices	Rent	Repairs	Rights
	Safety & Security	Shared Accommodations	Sublet or Assign Lease	Tenant Obligations	Tenant Remedies	Types of Tenancies
Landlords	Abandonment	Landlord Obligations	Landlord Offences under RTA	Landlord Remedies	Lease & Residential Tenancy Agreement Terms	Notices	Privacy
	Selling Property	Shared Accommodations	Types of Tenancies	Learning More
Other Resources	Legislation	Advice and Assistance	Documents	Websites

This page was last updated in November, 2004.

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